Ioan Oprea

Biography

Alongside working as a conservator at the National Museum of the Union of Alba Iulia in Romania, Ioan takes an interest in Roman antiquity and is particularly knowledgeable on the ancient bone, ivory and horn artefacts from Apvlvm/Dacia Svperior (modern day Alba Iulia, Romania) during II-III centuries AD. Ioan has a good knowledge of military inscriptions on bricks and tiles of the XIII Gemina legion in the Roman province of Dacia, having recorded thousands of inscriptions of this kind in the last few years. And Ioan is also researching the religious icons and books from Transylvania during the XVI-XIX centuries.

As a conservator it is Ioan’s responsibility to ensure the collections of paintings, icons and books that the museum holds are safe and have a healthy microclimate in the stores and in the exhibitions. He is interested in how other specialists deal with this activity and is keen to explore the conservation profession across the world.

At the British Museum

During his time on the International Training Programme Ioan was based in the Department of Greece and Rome and spent his partner placement at the Lincoln Museum and Nottingham University Museum.

In 2019 participants were asked to plan and propose a temporary exhibition around an object from the Museum’s collection working within the theme of journeys.  Ioan worked with Benedicta Gokah (Ghana) on his Object in focus project. Their exhibition proposal was titled Shāhanshāh: Money Talks.

Legacy projects

In November 2022 Ioan participated in an ITP legacy project based on the Museums Association Conference held in Edinburgh. As part of this week, with fellows from Armenia, Egypt, Guatemala, India, Philippines, Rwanda and Uzbekistan, Ioan attended a programme structured around the 3-day MA Conference exploring how museums can create better places to live and work.

In 2021 Ioan was awarded an ITP Conference Grant to attend Muze X Shaping Museum Futures in Malta.

ITP Newsletter Publications
ITP Newsletter Issue 10 (2023) A Roman funerary stela re-interpreted and Museikon as a cultural hub